


all i need

by rythyme (pugglemuggle)



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, Camping, Catra (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/F, Literal Sleeping Together, Post-Canon, Vulnerability
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-02
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:27:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22524763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pugglemuggle/pseuds/rythyme
Summary: There's still plenty of work to be done after the war ends. Adora is sent on an overnight mission, and Catra tags along. Sometimes it's easier to talk in the dark.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 117





	all i need

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for my fic challenge Fourteen First Dates, where I write a fic in a different fandom every day until February 14th. [Here's the challenge masterpost.](https://pugglemuggle.tumblr.com/post/190591254758/fourteen-first-dates-the-february-fourteen-fandom)
> 
> Set in some ambiguous time after Catra joins the good guys and helps them finish the war.

It will take a long, long time for Etheria to heal from the destruction wrought by Hordak and his soldiers. The magic of Etheria is weak, and the infrastructure that once defined glittering cities and formidable kingdoms now lay in ruins. The people of Etheria are determined, and they will fight to rebuild their land until the deed is done. But that doesn’t mean it won’t be hard work.

Adora finds herself at the center of the restoration efforts. Glimmer is an efficient and pragmatic leader of the disaster relief units who have managed to form in the wake of the war. Adora may not be She-Ra anymore, but she still has her training, and Glimmer has been making good use of her.

Catra insists on joining Adora on most of her restoration missions—or rather, she willfully ignores any orders to the contrary. Catra treats her companionship on missions as an assumption. She hardly asks to come along anymore, instead simply showing up at the gates of Brightmoon on the morning of a new mission and saying, "Where are we headed?"

(She had asked, at first: quiet, tentative, penative. All things that Catra isn't. "Mind if I tag along?" she'd murmured, her eyes on Adora's boots, and truly Adora never could tell her to stay. She didn't then, and she won't now.)

This is how Adora finds herself on one such mission, traveling through the forest south of Perfuma's domain. They’re supposed to be recovering some supplies that were abandoned a few months ago during a hasty retreat by one of Glimmer’s battalions. So far, all they’ve seen are trees. The air in the forest is cold, but spring is close enough to taste, and the trees around them are covered in small pink buds even as a chilly breeze rushes through their leafless branches. Adora shivers in sympathy and pulls her jacket a little tighter.

“We should probably set up camp,” she says an hour later as the pale sun begins to set beyond the trees, filling the forest with a faint orange glow. “It’s going to get dark.”

“And cold _ — _ as if it isn’t freezing already,” Catra grumbles. 

Adora finds a decent enough clearing in the woods and swings her pack off her shoulders. “You know, you could have stayed at Brightmoon. It’s a lot warmer there.”

“Hah,” Catra scoffs. “Still feels pretty  _ frigid  _ to me.”

Adora pauses, setting the tent poles onto the mossy forest floor. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing.”

_ “Catra—” _

“Really, it’s nothing. It’s fine.” Catra huffs, pulling out her fire making kit from her bag as she begins to gather kindling. “I’m not exactly popular in Brightmoon. Which _ — _ you know. Makes sense, of course. But— Yeah. It’s fine.”

“Oh.” Adora frowns. “But you don’t… That kind of thing doesn’t…”  _ Doesn’t bother you _ , she was going to say, but looking at Catra now, facing away from Adora and crouching low at the foot of one of the trees, she wonders if maybe it does. It didn’t used to—or perhaps Catra was just better at hiding it back then.

“It’ll get better,” Adora finally amends. “They’ll warm up. I know they will.”

“Sure,” Catra says, but it doesn’t sound very convincing.

They finish setting up camp in silence, falling into a familiar routine. It reminds Adora of field trainings when they were young. One of them would pitch the tent, the other would start the fire. They’d forage for food and use their water purification tablets just like Shadow Weaver taught them, and when night fell, they’d hole up inside their tent in their sleeping bags, side by side. 

So much has changed since then, but when the last shreds of daylight fade, it’s easy to pretend that things are like they were. They finish off the rations they’d brought and lay out their bedrolls in the tiny tent. 

“Well… Goodnight, Catra,” Adora says, settling down in her sleeping bag. It’s dark now, the tent illuminated only by the faint glow of their dying campfire outside, but Adora can still make out Catra’s silhouette as she ties the tent flaps shut and crawls into her own sleeping bag.

“G’night,” Catra murmurs back.

The tent is quiet again, the silence only interrupted by the faint whistling of the wind and the shushing of branches overhead. Adora has almost drifted off to sleep when Catra whispers, almost too quiet for Adora to hear, “It’s easier, with you.”

Adora opens her eyes and blinks into the dark. “Catra…?”

“I just mean… It I stayed in Brightmoon…” She goes quiet for a moment, and Adora rolls over to look at the shape of Catra on the other side of the tent. “No one likes me in Brightmoon. You’re kind of the only one.”

“Scorpia…” Adora says carefully.

“Scorpia likes everyone,” Catra replies before Adora can finish. “And besides, she’s hardly at Brightmoon anymore. She’s got her whole kingdom to rebuild.”

“You could go visit, if you wanted. I’m sure she’d love that.”

“I— I could,” she hedges. Then, “Do you want me to go?”

“No,” Adora says quickly. “No, I don’t want that. Not unless you want to go.”

“I don’t want to go. I’m— I’m done being alone.” She lets out a quiet laugh. “And you’re too dumb to know better than to put up with me.”

“You’re my friend, Catra. I like putting up with you.”

“Even when I almost destroy the planet?”

“Well. Maybe not so much then.”

Catra laughs again, the sound tight and hollow. Adora wishes she could see her face, wishes she could know what was going on in Catra’s head to make her open up now, in the darkness of the tent. Maybe the darkness was part of it. Maybe Catra doesn’t want her to see her face.

A gust of wind blows at their tent, making the poles shake. Adora shivers. She can see her breath when she exhales, and although the sleeping bag is warm, it’s not quite warm enough to be comfortable. She glances over at the vague Catra-shaped lump next to her and says, “You should come over here.”

“What?”

“I said you should come over—”

“I heard what you said. But why?”

“It’s cold. We’ll be warmer if share our sleeping bags.”

Catra doesn’t move, and for a moment Adora thinks she’s going to ignore her request altogether. Then Catra lets out a put-upon sigh and scoots across the length of the tent to settle at Adora’s side. “Well,” she mumbles. “Is this better?”

“Yes—much better.” Adora unzips both of their sleeping bags and rearranges them so they overlap over both of them, adding twice the protection from the cold. Catra is also warm beneath the covers, and Adora is reminded once again of growing up in the Horde, sneaking into each other’s beds to huddle close together on cold nights.Catra sleeps exactly the same way as she did back then: curled up small with her legs and arms tucked in close to her chest. 

“I’m really glad you’re here,” Adora says suddenly. Catra shifts, her eyes glinting in the dim light as she tilts her head to look at her. “I really missed you.”

“If I’d known you were that cold I would have scooted over sooner,” Catra jokes, but she doesn’t protest when Adora reaches out and pulls her close.

“Goodnight again,” Adora whispers into Catra’s hair. 

“Goodnight,” comes Catra’s reply.

They fall asleep like this, warm in each other’s arms. The world is changing, but the forest outside their tent is still cold and unforgiving. She spends so much time discovering and adapting and adjusting. It’s nice to relax in the comfort of the familiar. For so long there was something missing, something always nagging at the edge of her mind. Now, with the war over and Catra back at her side, the feeling is gone. Now, the world feels as it should. As long as Catra is here, Adora feels whole.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a bit of a rushed job since I wrote it mostly in one sitting. It also hasn't been beta-ed, so I apologize for any mistakes! Thank you for reading. :)


End file.
